A man in California says that what should have been the simple exchange of a leaf blower at his local Lowe’s store instead blew up into an incident that involved a Lowe’s staffer allegedly using anti-gay slurs and threatening the customer and his partner with physical violence.

According to the customer, who filed a request for a restraining order against two employees last Friday, he was trying to exchange a leaf blower because its battery wouldn’t hold its charge. That’s when he claims the first Lowe’s staffer replied, “If you’d learn to read the (expletive) directions, you’d see you have to charge it for 12 hours.”

He says he then asked to speak to a manager and was told by the employee, “You watch your (expletive) mouth. I’ll say what the (expletive) I want to say. I’ll beat your (expletive expletive) right here, you little (anti-gay slur).”

The man admits to the Riverside Press-Enterprise that he may not have helped the situation by telling the 7-year Lowe’s employee that “I know see why you’re still a cashier after many years,” which he defends as a statement of the employee’s apparent lack of management skills.

He says the Lowe’s worker eventually had to be restrained from assaulting him, and as he was led away he allegedly told the customer, “I know where you live. I’ve got your address in the computer. I’m going to be at your house. I’m going to get you.”

A rep for Lowe’s tells the Press-Enterprise, “We take this matter very seriously. Customer service is one of our top priorities and we are looking into this situation.”

Actually this article seems to indicate that they have a problem with ‘the heteros’. They would have a problem with ‘the gays’ if they used a ‘gay slur’ since they used an ‘anti-gay slur’ they obviously have a problem with heterosexuals.

where did you hear that? do you have a link?
my roommate runs the paint desk at a lowe’s hardware and the valspar rep was just there handing out t shirts and discussing the newest paints. if they are pulling their product, i’m sure she is going to want to know

When we bought our house we used primarily Valspar paint because Lowes was conveniently located four miles down the road. Hundreds of dollars of Valspar paint. Inside. Outside. Everywhere.

One year later, the Valspar paint starts peeling, buckling, and generally lifting off. We’re not talking about one place, we’re talking about every location on which we used the Valspar paint. In my master bathroom right now, I can flake off the paint by lightly rubbing against the wall with my fingernail.

This appears to be universal to all Valspar paint, including the other brands that are manufactured by Valspar.

We have used a other major brands of paint for some other areas and assorted projects around the house and each has held up unlike Valspar.

I would love to travel to Lowes for some quality paint again. The 16 mile trip to Home Depot or Sherwin Williams are annoying when I have to pass a Lowes in the first 1/4 mile of my trip to arrive at those destinations.

This. I don’t care what the customer did (no matter how wrong), it’s your JOB to keep your cool and be respectful, even if you’re not getting it in return. If it’s that bad, get a manager involved. They’re making the big bucks (well, at least compared to the other workers), they’re there to defuse the situation. “Sir, I obviously can’t help you, let me get a manager.” Managers are specially trained to deal with customers who are difficult. There’s NO excuse for treating an employee like crap either, I’m just justifying the customers behavior. The thing is… it’s the employees job on the line, not the customers.

Agreed. I’ve worked in retail and I’ve had to deal with my share of douchey customers, but I always kept my cool. The worst people I encountered were when I worked at a movie theater. Oh, the stories I could tell. Whenever one of them started in on the whole “I’ll get you fired! RAWR RAWR RAWR!” I always said “Please wait here, I’ll go get my manager”.

The reasons they had for wanting me fired were pretty funny. One was because the customer wanted the matinee price at 8:00 at freakin night. There was a couple people who refused to believe that, no, we don’t have anymore Raisenettes. No sir, there’s none in the back, I checked about 25 minutes ago. No sir, a delivery truck did not come in the past 25 minutes, I’m positive. And I just LOVED the “Why can’t I bring my Panda Express/McDonald’s/Raising Canes/Pizza into the theater!? I just paid [insert exaggerated amount of money] for it and I have a right to eat it wherever I want! GET YOUR MANAGER IMMA HAVE YOU FIRED!”

The manager and I and all of my co-workers would have so much fun laughing about all these situations after closing time while cleaning up. I don’t miss the job, but I miss the employees.

People who say “I’ll get you fired” are just a-holes. 99 times out of 100, the employees are following rules that if they broke, they WOULD lose their jobs. What I love is managers who will stick up for their employees when they are in the right. I’ve heard managers say “Sir, I’m going to ask you just once to speak to me and my employees in a respectful manner. We’re trying to help you and cussing, yelling, and belittling is not going to get you anywhere with me.”

He says the Lowe’s worker eventually had to be restrained from assaulting him, and as he was led away he allegedly told the customer, “I know where you live. I’ve got your address in the computer. I’m going to be at your house. I’m going to get you.”

Yes the employee got out of hand. That’s a non-national issue. It’s not hard to push an employee to the edge.

Clearly this smug customer said something to piss him him. This article has turned into gay rights bait. Lowes has to act now because homosexuality is such a hot topic. In the end, no one cares about the rip on the employees livlihood.

If this played out the way it has been described, I don’t care about the employees livelihood. If he cared about his own livelihood, he would have kept his calm and treated the customer with respect.

Unless you know one of the parties involved or were a first hand witness to this exchange, you should only base your opinion on the details given. The PE article doesn’t state whether they tried to talk to the employee but does say Lowe’s wouldn’t answer any questions.

Customer: Hey, dumbass, gimme money back for this.
Employee: Yes, sir. Was there a problem?
Customer: STFU, mouthbreather, gimme cash.
Employee: I’m sorry, I can only give you store credit or charge it back to your card.
Customer: Gimme cash or I’ll hunt you down and kill you!
Employee: Sir, I’m going to go get the manager, he might be able to help you better.
Customer: Good, have him bring me some cupcake’s too.
Employee: Have a nice day.

The important point of your summary being, it is clear that it took little to nothing to set the employee off.
And now I’m totally speculating here, but increasingly I see people in ordinary circumstances who are high on meth. And they behave in this way, volatile, angry, violent.

There’s 1 gold star, for admitting the employee is at fault (all that’s going to matter in the lawsuit)

“It’s not hard to push an employee to the edge.”
That’s sad. It should be. I had many coworkers when I studied in Britan who where fired for behavioral issues/mouthing off. As to my life here in the states, no job I’ve had has ever tolerated this kind of thing. A guy I worked with at Panera was even canned on the spot for simply telling a customer to grow up, even though the customer had been seen giving this guy a hard time.

You see, there’s something called standards and etiquette. As an employee, you’re bound to both. In retail/customer service, you are PAID to put up with other peoples shit, and make sure everyone has an enjoyable enough experience to swipe their card at the checkout. The customer has no obligation, other than to abide by laws and not mess with other customers. Employees? Sure. Is it right? No. Bottom line is that you’re getting paid to make the customer happy, even if it means taking their shit. You’re getting paid to…not get your employer sued. The customer? Just don’t punch dolphins/light cats on fire. As long as they’re buying, it’s your job to put up with them.

it SHOULD be hard to push an employee to the edge. i worked in retail for a long time. the employees that lasted at the job were the ones who let abuse roll off them. don’t take it personally, don’t let them [the customers] get to you. it’s part of the job. it sucks and it shouldn’t have to be part of the job, but it is

“it SHOULD be hard to push an employee to the edge. i worked in retail for a long time. the employees that lasted at the job were the ones who let abuse roll off them. ”

A long time ago, I was in a fit over something and called service. I was ranting and raving (I stopped this stuff a long time ago). The women, almost magically, calmed me down within seconds. My BP dropped, my voice lowered and wasn’t strident; the whole day seemed so much better. Damn, she was in the wrong job. She could have been a hostage negotiator.

Some little old lady in a store didn’t like what I said when I was attempting to return something and wouldn’t you know it, with zero warning she punched me in the face. Who’d think that an old woman could deliver such a wallop? This was in Stowe, Vermont.

I’ve seen some employees in what might have been the worst of jobs always with a genuine smile and relaxed body language.

Some employees hate their jobs (or their life) and will lash out at customers with minimal provocation. Some customers hate their life use CSRs for scream therapy. Idiots are on both sides of the aisle.

Then their was this time when a waitress didn’t like what I said so she picks up a glass ketchup bottle, hikes up her skirt to get over the counter to attack me. I quickly left.

Not necessarily. Just being gay and existing in the world is enough to piss some people off. My partner had some new neighbor go off on her last week (“I’m gonna burn your house down! I’m gonna drive all the d*kes out of here! I’m gonna… “) for 20 minutes, the cops has to be called, because his trash can was blocking our driveway, and she asked him to move it. The same guy spit at another neighbor, a gay guy, because the new neighbor’s truck was blocking gay guy’s driveway, and gay guy asked him to move it. Gay guy is one of the nicest, most diplomatic people on the planet, and I am quite sure he didn’t do anything to provoke the situation, except be obviously gay.

This stuff is happening in one of the gayest neighborhoods in one of the gayest cities in the U.S. So I have no trouble believing that a Lowes cashier in Riverside, which isn’t exactly a gay friendly place, would go off on a guy for no reason other than the fact that he’s gay.

Not reading that at all. The employee seemed to have something on his shoulder from the start. If someone is insulting you and talking down to you repeatedly, I don’t think you have to just take it. Go ahead and fire back. And while the employee’s rants were simply low brow cussing, the customer’s diss was actually a well targeted insult that made sense.

This, 100 times this! I’m a bigger guy and the lowest of low brow comments are usually about my weight I can usually fire back something far more personal and witty that gets under someone’s skin a lot easier than a sophomoric comment about my weight.

Example, I was in a bar and this dude was hitting on me. He was drunk and obnoxious so I politely declined his offer of a drink and walked away. He came up two more times and I said, “Listen, I’m really not interested” his response was calling me a fat fuck. Even after I walked away, he walked by twice more and said that so finally the third time he said it I replied with “Oh thanks, and BTW, nice teeth it’s a pretty good indicator of your socio-economic status.” Dude gets seriously pissed and kept calling me a fat fuck and saying “I make six fig-ya bitch” I again replied, “I think one of the requirement for making six FIGURES is being able to pronounce it first.” That’s when the dude really flipped the fuck out and had to be dragged out of the bar.

Because the gay man was truthful in taking some of the responsibility for the altercation, you immediately assume that he’s fabricating other parts of the story? I guess it would have been better if he’d lied outright, right?

I don’t think we are getting the full story here. I have the feeling the customer came in with the attitude first, and was ready to stir up. I guess I blame the OP, but if he admits to the “cashier” jab, I wonder what else he said first? I have doubts that the emploee went off on a tirade because of a simple return.

Yeah, I’m not reading that at all. They came in with a logical request, and the guy was a dick right off the bat. Who knows…maybe he’d had an idiot of a customer right before them, or perhaps he saw 2 male “partners” and it disgusted him. The construction industry is probably comprised of 98% homophobes.

If I don’t like the way a customer is treating me, I’ll get my boss to deal with them. I’m not going to lose my job because of the way I treat a customer.

I didn’t see any proof that the item was properly functioning. It was the cashier’s opinion that the customer wasn’t charging the item correctly, but that hasn’t been (as far as I know) been verified, either way.

I like Lowe’s. I’ll continue to shop at Lowe’s. I’ve returned several things to Lowe’s over the years. I’ve never been asked more than whether I want a refund or a replacement when returning something. I’ve certainly never been second guessed by the cashier.

You’re so fucking stupid. No wonder you can’t move up to a better job. (all while trying to return a functional product)

Yeah, that totally justifies threatening to come to the customer’s home and beat the shit out of them. Give me a break, it’s called self-control, you lose it you get the punishment. End of story.

I used to work the customer service desk at Circuit City, and was called every horrible name in the book. Berated to the point of tears for something that was not at all my fault, but I never, ever got even close to a screaming match let alone threaten the duchebags who spoke to me that way.

As a member of the public and one time retail sales clerk, I can also tell you that that are a lot of sales people that are rude, incompetent and more than capable of displaying the behavior described.

The fact that you interpret an anti gay slur as simply questioning a person’s sexuality pretty much destroys your credibility as a fair minded person. That may possibly explain why you are seem unconcerned that this customer was almost assaulted and threatened. That is one sick little world you live in.

Because after reading the article and watching the clip, I get the feeling that the whole story isn’t on the table here, and most 7 year employees don’t just simply start hurling threats and slurs unless seriously provoked. Was it right for the employee to (allegedly) say those things? No. But I have a suspicion that this whole incident is being greatly exaggerated. Just because he says that the employees “had to be restrained” and threatened to attack him at his home doesn’t make it true. If this guy admits to calling him an animal and making fun of his profession, then imagine what he hasn’t copped to. Two sides to every story, I would like to hear the other one.

Why do you assume that the gay man – who admits to making a snarky comment – must have, therefore, said more? It’s as if you’re judging because he’s at least partially truthful. I guess if he had just flat-out lied, he would have more credibility with you because then you wouldn’t have that small straw to grasp. We live in a pretty cynical world when it’s better to lie about things outright than to try and tell the truth.

Why post in a discussion thread if you don’t want discussion? My problem with your suggestion is there’s little to no evidence in support of it. Of course it’s possible the customer provoked the employee beyond what he admitted to, but what evidence is there that it’s likely?

As for the reliability of gut feelings, they come from intuition and personal biases rather than reason and logic. Some people have more refined intuition than others, especially after working in a given field for several years, but gut feelings, common sense, and the like are far less reliable than logic. Gut feelings are best used when making snap decisions, not protracted analyses.

Fine, then my intuition and snap decisions tell me that there is more to this story than we are getting. Now that the Gay card has been thrown into the mix, we may never get the rest of the story. I also have yet to see any evidence supporting the customer’s story. I guess the customer is always right, huh? Especially when they are a member of a minority group?

“The gay card” has been thrown into the mix because the employee used a homophobic slur, which may speak to his initial mindset. It’s not a red herring. If it were a completely incidental detail, people – including myself – would be lining up to ask why that detail was included in the story.

My Lowe’s is much friendlier – they always ask if they can “show me their wood”, “carry my load” and they recommend products to keep my cracks clean and my junk in order.

But seriously I’d expect this kind of crap from (insert redneck state of your choice here), but not SoCal. Come on people – grow up, get over yourselves and be respectful to each other regardless of age, sex, preference, color, etc…

Riverside has really gone down hill over the years. Lots of “Bros” and trashy people. I want to move away, but I have a stable job there. There are good and bad areas in SoCal. Sadly, I’m not rich enough to afford the million dollar homes in the nice areas.

I love Irvine, it’s just wayyyy too expensive for me. One of my coworkers was commuting from Riverside (city) to Irvine for a while for her job. Commuting is not my friend, I’m doing 30 miles each way now.

58 miles each way? Holy moly! Maybe if we can get 10 roommates, we can afford a 1 bedroom apartment in Irvine. What do you say? :P And if that pig in your avatar is yours, that makes being roommates an even better idea :)

If even half of what this guy says is true, then the seven year employee needs to be fired immediately, and the entire customer service area needs to be retrained. The employee who restrained him should be commended (unless he initially contributed to the hostilities) and they should provide the guy with a new leaf blower free of charge.

Of course none of that will probably happen (aside from the one employee getting canned) and the customer will probably be filing a lawsuit against Lowe’s within the week.

it doesn’t matter what the customer said to the employee. If he was a good employee with good customer service (7 years?) he would walk away or defuse the situation. Not make it worse. Basic customer interaction 101. it doesn’t matter if the customer is gay, black, orange or from mars. if you cant give good customer service walk away and get someone else there to help them who can.

Pretty much…there are a lot of “Yeah, but…” arguments, and the bottom line is that you’re going to run into assholes when you work in customer service, and your job requires you to deal with them. If you can’t do that, you should be working at a different job.

I used to work at that Lowes. I blame the management and the company for this employees behavior. I can’t speak for all stores or managers, but while I worked at the Riverside, CA Lowes, there was an atmosphere of hate. I even witnessed management stating ‘fags have no right to work here.’
The companies board of directors even made it known that same sex couples don’t deserve the same rights as everyone else. They asked and urged employees to vote for GOP candidates to save our country. Shocked there aren’t more stories like this. And I don’t by it that Lowe’s ‘takes matters like this seriously.’ They just don’t want to be in the news over this. I still have friends working at that store. I should see if things have changed since my days there.

You know what? We have a regional chain called Menards, and the managers there where really rude one time when I tried to exchange a mower that didn’t work, so I quit shopping there.

When I dropped $3,000 on new appliances for my home, I went to Lowes. Their delivery guys where horrible, damaged the gas line and dryer, and blamed it on us (even though we paid for their installation)

Fast forward to us going into Lowes to complain. You could literally see the guilt and embarrassment on the managers face as he started apologizing, explaining that he knew the delivery/install guys where horrible. He PERSONALLY came out to our house to inspect the damage, called corporate, had everything made right, and gave us an in store credit for our troubles.

Since then I’ve probably spent another $5,000 at Lowes, instead of Menards, even when I know menards has cheaper price sometimes.

Why? Because customer service is EVERYTHING. I hope Lowes is either getting this loon psychiatric help, or shit canned him.

I had to deny a gay couple once with a cell phone contract because they didn’t have the proper proof of identity (No bank card or ID with valid address of residence). I explained the policy the best I could but when they became irate I offered them a manager to speak with. I was pretty shocked when I was being accused of discrimination against their sexual preferences. A bad costumer is a bad costumer regardless of their sexuality. But in MY EXPERIENCE only, a person will resort to claiming discrimination to their minority if it’ll get them what they want. That would be true even if the tables were turned. Its horrible but people try it every day.

Not saying thats what is happening here but its happened to me before. I would like to hear the other side of the story.

Wow, so you mean to tell me that a member of an widely unpopular minority group was treated like shit in a business frequented by rednecks and bigots? NO :O

Hell, I’m not even gay and *I* don’t feel comfortable going into places like Lowe’s. I’m a woman & I live in the south, but since I’m not a redneck women with a cowhide purse with a giant rhinestone cross on the side(I have a nose ring & tattoos), I basically stick out like a sore thumb & the “your kind aren’t wanted here” vibe always hits me like a ton of bricks. I always get more dirty looks & whispers than a prostitute at a church family picnic.

I’m disgusted but not surprised that this happened. He should have called the police when the ignorant hick of a clerk started making threats.

for what it’s worth, to other commenters: corporate jobs like working at lowes do not generally come with any possibility of promotion. this is regardless of performance or years of service. certainly not impossible to move up in regular jobs like retail stores, but most definitely not something to ever plan on. the guy in this post is an exceptionally bad example, but even excellent employees at these jobs often only have a chance to move up if someone dies or retires.

now to the on topic.

there’s only one reason I can see wondering if the customer provoked the employee in any real way. that is to assume he did and said things far beyond what he is willing to admit. in the source he admitted to making some comments that “may have upset,” the cashier. in this post it shows he admitted to insulting the guy’s job. the point being, it is possible he was baiting the cashier the entire time and doesn’t want to go on the record about it.

that being said, I do think the employee had a job responsibility to keep cool and not insult the customer. even if he wasn’t at work, I wouldn’t think threats or violence were warranted. he sounds like an overall maniac and should know he gave up his job (hopefully) the minute he flew off the handle.

It’s obvious the employee was fired. The joining employee was probably fired also. The manager should have used cameras to verify the incident. I guess the gay customer will now sue because he has mental issues and cannot sleep at night. Any lawyers ready to jump on this? Probably a few hundred or so!